


24 Hours: The Plane

by little_shinra



Series: Post Vitri/Rescue AU [2]
Category: DRAMAtical Murder (Visual Novel), DRAMAtical Murder - All Media Types
Genre: Airplanes, Anxiety, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Past Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-12 10:24:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9067624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/little_shinra/pseuds/little_shinra
Summary: The first 24 hours are a confusing thing for Aoba. He's finally free. Will his mind catch up to the fact?(Epilogue to 24 Hours: The Room)





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [artemisgrace](https://archiveofourown.org/users/artemisgrace/gifts).



> This was a section of the 24 Hours story that I wasn't able finish in time due to deadline constraints of the DMMD fanfic exchange, so I ended up splitting 24 Hours into two parts. Because it is an epilogue to 24 Hours: The Room, I highly recommend reading that first before you continue through this one.
> 
> Hopefully you enjoy the final segment for this story, artemisgrace. I'm sorry I wasn't able to get it in originally and that it took so long to put up on here. Consider it like a New Year's gift from me to you. I hope (again) that you and everyone enjoy this ending! Kudos and comments are always appreciated!

“Mas-” Clear corrected himself, “Aoba, what's wrong?”

Sly glared at the question, noting how stupid such a question was. _So much wrong, everything wrong. How long will it take these fools to figure it out? So slow._

“Your hands,” Clear fretted, hand hovering near his. Sly loosened them and noted the small crescent groves in his palms. So he was gripping too hard. His knuckles must've tipped Clear off. Sly made the motions to stuff his hands in his pockets, but realized the outfit they provided Aoba lacked them. He clicked his tongue out of annoyance and made a beeline to where the flight staff opened the ramp to take them all outside.

The winds in the runway blew his hair all over his face, obstructing his view of the plane. Hastily moving the bag to his shoulder, Sly ran his fingers over his face and held the hair back. A small jet waited for them just ahead, Mink standing with a focused expression at the airstair.

“Huh,” Sly looked him over once he was at the jet. He shouted over the winds. “Never thought you’d show up too. Didn’t see you as the type,” He looked back to the others, “Then again, you’re all idiots.”

Mink made a sound that was drowned out and motioned Sly up the steps. Sly glanced back to make sure of who was following behind and took his seat inside, tossing the bag in another seat a row in front of him.

“First time on a plane, huh?” Koujaku gave an amiable smile as they strapped in and the flight attendants made their scripted instructions for takeoff, sealing the doors. Sly kept his gaze outside, intentionally taking note of the runway in the morning light. He hasn’t seen one before, all these planes lined up, the rising glow behind the horizon in the early morning.

“It is our first time,” He mumbled to himself. _If only it wasn’t for this._

The cabin shifted and his focus was taken back inside. The view outside changed as the plane pulled out and made its way to the liftoff strip. Dialogue in a language he didn’t know was brief in the cabin speakers and the plane started down to the air strip, aligning and picking up more and more speed until they were off the ground.

Sly felt his heart race. He wasn’t sure if it was out of elation or terror, but… it was fun. He was having fun. He smothered the laughter that threatened to rise from this soaring swell of his heartbeat.

With a smile, Sly rolled inwardly to his solitary brain space, pulling Aoba back to the surface.

_“You need to see this.”_

Aoba woke, gasped and seized up at the feeling in his chest. The overwhelming feeling turned to terror and sent him scared. It pulled buried ‘things’ to surface again as he recoiled from the world back to Desire’s safe space. Sly held onto him, calming the turmoil with his own peaceful excitement.

 _“The sun. The plane. We’re flying, Aoba. With metal wings. We’re free.”_ He felt a distant pressure on his shoulder. Sly’s voice softened in his ear. _“It’s safe, Aoba. We’re making so much distance. So far… from the room.”_

“Aoba?” Koujaku nudged. Aoba blinked at him. He planted his hands on his lap.

“What?”

“You okay? You were spacing out for a bit there.”

“I’m…” He checked back on Sly. His other self was quiet, resting in the back of his mind with a smile on his face. Aoba felt his lips quirk up. “I’m fine.”

Aoba looked out the cabin window, pressing his fingers against it with wide eyes.

“I'm out of there?” he whispered. Koujaku barely grasped what he said, but answered regardless.

“Yes, you'll be able to go home, when you're ready.”

Aoba looked back at him, confused. “Where are we going?”

“For now, we’re going to Germany. Noiz has a safe place where we can stay for a while until you're ready to go home.”

“Ah,” Aoba's hands clenched and unclenched, then smoothed them over his legs. He searched his seat, the floor, and the rows around that he could see. “Where's Ren?”

Koujaku reached forward to the row ahead of them, bringing the bag over. “Here.”

Aoba opened it and lifted Ren out, hugging him close in his arms. He glanced out the window again. Large landscapes of clouds covered the land below them and the sun shone new light in the distance, threatening to blind them.

Aoba still troubled to grasp it, this entire…scenario. It all seemed so real, yet so _surreal_ , it scared him that it was just another wishful dream his brain made him in his sleep. He focused back when he was last awake, at the surface.

His first bath, alone. Of course, Sly and Ren were there, arguing, but he was _left alone_. It was so strange, the concept of being given solitude and having his own space. Aoba felt a giddiness lift him, his breath catching in his throat and leaving his brain dizzy.

It’s true, he was out, on a plane. He could go home when he wanted to. Koujaku said it so. It was a choice he thought, believed, would never be in his grasp again. He had accepted it was impossible, even when Desire swore he would fight for it. He…had lost hope, and any desire to cling to it. And now it was back in his lap and he couldn’t understand what to do with it.

Aoba's vision blurred and he felt a pressure against his head and a burn in his nose.

“Aoba,” Ren's concerned voice rang clear in his ears. Ah, he hadn't realized Ren woke up. Aoba turned away from the window.

Why did Koujaku looked so alarmed? The older man asked him if everything was alright. Aoba heaved out a laugh at that, instantly covering his mouth with a free hand. That's when he noticed the tears.

The revelation dawned.

Everything was perfect.

He started sobbing. Loud, heaving ones and he was bent forward, sandwiching Ren between his arms and legs. Leave was possible and he’d left! Left it all behind!

 _“Sly, it's here,”_ he spoke to his other. _“It's really here! Desire! God, we’re out.”_

He didn't hear a response, but felt it: Sly’s grin widening. He squeezed Ren for a moment, ignoring the Allmate's insistence that he cease lest he break. Koujaku's hand ran over his back, unsure but comforting to the touch. Aoba shuddered, his flowing tears dripping on the Allmate’s fur.

_Everything is perfect._

“I’m glad,” He sighed. He brushed his fingers over Ren’s ears. “I’m so glad.”


End file.
